FROM THE NEST | SUMMER 2025 | 19 When Stella Buckley ’22 received an ice cream maker for Christmas 2022 from fiancé Noah Backman ’22, it was initially a gift gone wrong: She had asked for a pasta maker. But within a year, she started a side hustle selling the gourmet ice cream she made in her apartment kitchen. She catered parties and special events, and once she bought a cart and started selling at the Dane County Farmers’ Market—considered the largest in the country—she left her day job. Now Stellie’s Ice Cream has a brickand-mortar store in Madison, Wisconsin, featuring flavors like dark chocolate sea salt and strawberry buttercream based on recipes that Buckley first developed in her kitchen. She also contracted with a production facility to produce ice cream to sell in Wisconsin supermarkets and to fulfill her burgeoning special event business. She’s booked to serve her ice cream at weddings every weekend through mid-December, and tailgaters at University of Wisconsin football games buy coolers filled with the frozen treat. The quality of her product has been the key to her success. “It’s really soft and smooth. Customers have said, ‘I don’t know if this is ice cream. It kind of tastes like gelato,’” Buckley said.—Vicki Mayk Hawks-pitality Served by the Scoop A sweet side hustle turned into a new career and business for Stella Buckley. ENTREPRENEURSHIP | ALUMNI ’22 Mastering Machine Learning Muñoz also conducts machine learning research under Javad Khazaei, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of INTEGrated, Resilient and IntelligenT EnergY Systems (INTEGRITY) Lab. Muñoz taught himself machine learning in preparation for his work in Khazaei’s lab, which focuses on using machine learning to enhance the efficiency and resiliency of high-performing computing centers. Muñoz said his goals include publishing a research paper, earning a Ph.D. in quantum computing and continuing to do work that has societal impact. “I think the applications that quantum computers have could be absolutely exponential for the world because of how fast they can solve problems,” Muñoz said. “They could be applied to the environment and health, and make many sectors better.”—Lauren Thein “I THINK THE APPLICATIONS THAT QUANTUM COMPUTERS HAVE COULD BE ABSOLUTELY EXPONENTIAL FOR THE WORLD BECAUSE OF HOW FAST THEY CAN SOLVE PROBLEMS.” —Saimonth Muñoz ’26 SCAN TO EXPLORE MORE HAWKS-PITALITY STORIES OF ALUMNIOWNED BUSINESSES
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